


Green Eyed Rabbit, Silver Eyed Spirit.

by SlySama



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU after Battle of Hogwarts, Dark Creatures, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Muggle invention advanced with magic, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Powerful Harry, Scars don't always heal with magic and potions, Snape's alive, Veritaserum, dominate harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:27:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23127010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlySama/pseuds/SlySama
Summary: After doing what was claimed his "Duty" for the Wizarding World, Harry only wanted peace.Secluded in a beautiful old Manor house once belonging to his ancestors tucked away inside a Mountain, Harry was plagued by Insomnia and with a blizzard fast approaching the countryside; He was in for a big surprise.
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Harry Potter.

**Prologue:**

**Harry Potter Defeats He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.**

Harry glared from his seat at the kitchen table.

Yeah, of course. It wasn’t like the whole thing wasn’t fraught with casualties or that he hadn’t watched as his home was destroyed and people he knew fell around him, never to rise again, or that he hadn’t trained like fuck to do so.

“ **Tsk.** ”

It had been two and half months since the battle of Hogwarts. The final Battle. The place was in complete disarray, whole walls and staircases collapsing even as they tried to repair it. It would take considerable time and resources to set the old castle right again; at least enough to be relatively safe for returning and new students.

They couldn’t very well shut down the school for more than a year.

It had also been two and half months since Harry Potter had gone missing; completely without a trace. No one knew where he was, he may have even succumbed to his battle injuries and no one would be any the wiser; he had many.

However, this wasn’t what people cared about most, no not really, it was that the wizarding world was now safe once more and it was all thanks to the seventeen-year-old Savour. He had defeated Voldemort, the Dark Wizard that had been plaguing their world for decades; the fact he had just up and gone didn’t seem to matter so long as they were now safe to be hypocrite’s without prosecution.

There were probably many, like Harry Potter’s friends at least, that spent almost every-day between helping mend Hogwarts, trying to find him.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, to the Savour, they had little success. Even Hermione Granger, Know-it-all, Bookworm, Expert on many things, couldn’t figure out the Mystery. SHOCKER.

But it wasn’t like the raven was very far away. He was just…In his own Manor on the outskirts of London, in the countryside, under his own Fidelius; he wanted peace.

He’d been through so much in the last 17 years, didn’t he deserve that? He had never wanted the fame, so he certainly didn’t want more of it because he’d finally acquiesced and offed the Psycho. 

This prophecy he had had to endure, that his parents had had to endure and what ultimately had gotten them killed in the vey early years of their adulthood, had been heaped onto him more and more, everything that the Wizarding World had fucked up being pushed onto his young shoulders, and unceremoniously told to deal with it.

He had really wanted to get away from the arrogance, so he had. All he had wanted was peace, and now he had it. It was a good thing that he was holed up in the Hidden Property of his Ancestors in the countryside, in the middle of nowhere behind a forest of Sprites, because THAT night, when his clock would strike to 12:00 am, the raven would get a VERY big surprise indeed.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One: Midnight Arrival.**

The clock on the black cherry side table struck 12:00 am in glowing emerald numbers, with the date and the year imprinted beneath it in small text, the tired raven sighed, brushing back his jet-black locks and closing those sore peridot eyes of his.

The raven had been trying for some time to get just a LITTLE rest into his night, but the orbs were that sore that he was beginning to develop a splitting headache. There was a steady THUMP, THUMP against the back of his eye socket.

It was snowing outside and had been for the better part of the last two hours, more than likely there was a blizzard in the works on the mountain range his manor was built within. As the wind and the snow pelted steadfastly against his window pane, rattling loudly and continuously that it made that SO wanted sleep evade him.

It was July but who was he to tell the season Sprites that?

He sighed heavily, rubbing at his temples as he lay prone. He’d not been able to fall asleep in so very long for fear he would see the nightmares instead of the pleasant dreams he wished for; they were nightmares, he knew this, they had been constant nightmares since the war had begun in earnest, and had only worsened as the war had come to halting stop.

He DIDN’T WANT to see.

He DIDN’T want to see all those for his mind and body’s sake; he desperately needed that sleep. If only he had dreamless sleep in his house, if only he didn’t think he would quickly become addicted to the substance with it unguarded in his house.

His body shivered suddenly as a woosh of cold air sank into his blankets and raced up his spine. Damn, why did it have to be so cold?

He snuggled himself further into his many topper blankets and the winter comforter that he’d spelled with a warming charm repeatedly. The raven sank so far beneath them that the only thing visible was the tips of his dark messy mop of hair and the flopping pink ears of his bunny hoodie. Yes. Yes, he did own one of this obnoxious jumpers that looked like animals. So what?! Just because he was 18 didn’t mean that he wasn’t allowed to possess something, something so…So adorable.

It was bloody freezing for Merlin’s sake; he’ll wear whatever the hell he bloody well chose to wear.

The beautiful white snow, that he adored so much because of her absolutely pure it was unmarred beneath his crunching feet was beginning to get on his frazzled nerves the harder it became to trudge through the thick blanket that lay on the piles of July leaves that had fallen from the thick trunks around him.

He couldn’t waste time like this; FUCK.

He needed to get somewhere safe before this abominable blizzard got any worse and swallowed him, but at least, with the way it howled at him and bathed him cold white wetness; they’d lost sight of him.

He was loathe to breath out of a sigh of relief, as unfortunately that went both ways now. He no longer knew where his hunters were. Taking a few deeper steps, north, he hoped, he stumbled as he began to breath a bit heavier. His hand came to his heart as suddenly he lost all breath; oh please not hyperventilating!

He leaned with his other hand against a tree, marring the bark with a red stain as he tried to keep himself standing, and calm his erratically beating heart so he could breath again.

It was actually a miracle he WAS standing among the winter-scape, what with all the injuries he wore. “Oi! There! There’s something hunched over, over there!” The blonde’s head shot up like a bullet leaving a Muggle Gun’s barrel, cursing as he spotted a blurred dark shadow running towards him; the man was followed by several more.

Pushing himself from the stained tree, propelling himself forwards, he ran as hard as he could through the thickening snow. They were hot on his heels again. DAMN IT!

His breathing was worsening. Trying not turn his head in search for them in this blaring storm, he hoped they weren’t right on top of him; he gulped and trudged faster, harder. The blonde’s feet were dragging in the thick snow as something abruptly tugged on his body and he fell.

Falling strangely onto warmer snow, his mouth had opened in a scream, but he frowned, rubbing at the back of his cooled head after whacking it against something hard and covered in snow.

The tall blonde slowly stood to his feet, praying that he would not actually turn around to find his hunters were all standing there, surrounding him and the heat was not in fact their malice.

But when he turned, he found himself pleasantly surprised to discover there was no one there. Certainly no one standing around him with wands, staffs, arrows, swords, daggers, guns, teeth and claws; he was actually in somebody’s from lawn.

How peculiar?

He blinked several times in complete and utter delighted bafflement and the froze upon hearing a door slowly being creaked open on its cold tightened hinges; nothing came out, at least, not at first so this caused the man to gulp in frightened anticipation.

Please don’t let this be one of their secret bases. He wished dearly, clenching his hands into his warn trousers, praying this really wasn’t the case as he waited on bated increasingly hard breath. 

“Where did the brat go?!”

The platinum blonde spun immediately as he heard the angered shout, grey eyes widened as wide as an Owl’s as right there, just a few paces away, beyond the fence, were the frustrated men searching for him. They were trudging around in the one spot; they’d obviously seen that that had been the last place he’d been. He stood there, stiff as a post and completely forgot to breath.

“Hurry up. I assume you don’t want them to find you? Get in the house and stay there. Don’t touch anything. I need to strengthen my wards now that you’ve fallen through them.”

The blonde blinked, grey eyes riveted to the many shadows amid the white darkness of the storm as he heard the angry but intrigued voice.

“I said hurry up!”

He jumped as he heard the voice yell and spun, gasping breaths as he ran into the house and the door slammed itself behind him. He could hear angry muttering beyond as the man strengthened his wards. He sat himself down heavily on the bottom marbled step of a staircase leading upwards. Panting, his uninjured hand pushing at his chest, his heart rate was erratic and stuttering; it hurt to breathe.

It just kept getting worse.

The door slammed again and he jumped.

He hadn’t been aware it had re-opened. “I don’t even understand HOW you could have even ACCIDENTLY fallen through my wards.” The man was shaking his head, eyes closed and hands pulling back a pink eared hoodie from his black hair.

The blonde’s eyes widened frantically.

The raven’s eyes narrowed as they met silver. “How, and Why, are you being chased through the mountainous countryside?”

The blonde swallowed anxiously. I really should have thought this through more before entering a stranger’s house just because he shouted at me. Fuck. I really should have recognised that voice. I’m hardly going to be safe here, in POTTER’S house. He thought.

He took a painful breath and let it out sharply before realising something and snorting before he could stop it. “Are you wearing a pink rabbit hoodie, Potter?”

Harry glared, his peridot eyes darkening. “Yes.”

The blonde blinked, then nodded once. “Right. Okay then. It, suits you, I guess, it’s cute.” He coughed awkwardly, shifting uncomfortably on the marble beneath his ass.

The raven’s eyebrow lifted at him strangely, head tilting. “Hm. Are you going to tell me why you were being chased in that blizzard, Malfoy, or aren’t you?” He questioned.

“Why do you care?” He shot back, out of breath.

“Well, I didn’t kick you straight out, did I?” Not that he had known who it had been to trip his wards until glimpsing the snow coloured hair beneath the moonlight with those grey eyes aglow with fear.

Biting at his lips, the blonde shook his head slow. “That’s, a bit odd, in itself actually.” He said slowly.

Harry sighed, annoyed. “Malfoy.”

Closing his eyes a moment, Draco just sat there, attempting to bring oxygen into his lungs which seemed to be in serious short supply. He was trying not to hiss out in pain so that it didn’t alert Potter’s cold-tipped ears to anything being amiss with his school rival.

It was becoming harder and harder to concentrate on anything else. With Potter’s intense stare, the anxiety and pain really made it hard for him to say anything to Potter. He didn’t think Potter could see him doing it, but he felt better making the slight shift of his body as he spoke, staring down at his own legs.

“Uncaptured ones.” There was silence. “Auror’s are so incompetent and you wanted to be one.” He snorted, huffing.

He heard a reciprocating snort. “True but I discovered my talents lie elsewhere.” The raven head lifted slowly from looking at the floor, two high spots of colour on his cheeks. He waved the blonde on as he let out a sigh of exhaustion; his body was still shaking from lack of sleep.

Draco mimicked the breath, opening his mouth only to pause as he realised he wasn’t sure what Potter REALLY wanted to hear from him and, okay, this breathing thing was really starting to become hard. He took a loud shaky breath without thinking as his eyes met green. “What do you…want to know…” His words were breathless.

Potter narrowed his eyes and took the four steps to stand before the blonde then crouched so he could see properly into the clammy pale face of the blonde aristocrat. He didn’t look good. The blonde watched him with an agonised stare, features contorted as Harry’s eyes raked over the blonde’s whole body; the more the raven looked, the worried he became. There was something wrong here.

Harry bit his lip. “Tal!”

POP!

“Yes sir?”

He chewed his lip again, debating his options and which one was better for this particular situation. “Gather all the emergency kits, a bunch of clean towels from the hallway and a bowl of warm water, please.” He added. “Alright, Mister Malfoy, this might hurt a bit. Endure it.” Without preamble, Harry manoeuvred around the blonde until he could gently lift him into his arms, bridle, and take him upstairs.

Weakly, Draco protested the whole way, whacking Harry; it didn’t hurt which was what worried the raven more.

“Potter, put, me, down! This…Instant.” He glared petulantly.

“Gladly.” Potter chuckled as he deposited him on soft silver blankets. He laughed further when the blonde couldn’t help the involuntary noise of surprise at the softness; let alone the rooms décor, it was very…

“Potter…” He whispered.

“Mm?”

“This is almost Slytherin!” His hands were rubbing the silken sheets as the raven dragged the blankets from underneath him.

The raven appeared very amused. “I’m very different than what you believe me to be like, you know? I have many secrets and not a lot of them my friends are privy too; including this Manor by the way.”

“Now hush, I need to cut these clothes off you seeing as their wet and are sticking to you like glue.” He swished a wand Draco had never seen before, rather intricately. The blonde flinched as he felt the magic wash over him earnestly; he didn’t trust Potter not to slice him open again, frankly, he didn’t trust anyone anymore, especially not those that aimed their wands at him.

His grey eyes squeezed tightly shut and it was only when he felt a poke against his cheek that Draco blinked them open slowly. His eyes followed where the hand retreated and watched as a slow but gentle hand used a warm wash cloth to clean his more serious wounds.

Thankfully, the raven had left his underwear on. EMBARASSING!

He could see, out the corner of his eye, that Potter’s Adam’s Apple bobbing up and down as he spied the scars left from their sixth year. Snape had once apologised for forgetting to the tell Madam Pomfrey to use Dittany or the scars wouldn’t heal; Draco had only shrugged. Then he saw the lids close and the body shudder a breath to seemingly calm himself for a minute before proceeding with his task.

“Potter?” He wheezed. That hadn’t come out right; he swallowed. “Potter.” Well, it could have been better, if he could get the right amount of oxygen into his collapsing lungs.

“Mm?”

“I…Um, thanks.” He swallowed again; oh, wow, that had hurt.

Potter shook his head, “Don’t.” The green eyes remained on the seeping wounds, unblinking even, as tired as they appeared to look. “You don’t owe me thanks, but you do owe me an explanation, when you’re all healed and well rested. Clear?”

Draco jerkily moved his head against the pillows.

I suppose I do owe the prat that much. I was going to anyway, I think.

“Brace yourself Malfoy, because when I start casting it’s going to hurt like hell. I’ve been trying to remedy it but, it just won’t budge and if I use any anaesthesia, you might stop breathing altogether, so bear with it and grit your teeth.” Draco eyes widened in alarm, his throat swallowed, and his teeth bit the inside of his cheek sharply but nodded once.

Potter’s eyes closed and his voice became almost melodious as he began chanting some spell he seemed to have invented. The quiet incantating wasn’t anything he had heard before; it didn’t appear to be in any language he’d heard before. He wasn’t sure what it was. 

As he lay, trying to figure it out among the agony as some type of desperate distraction from the agony, he was suddenly wrapped in the terrifying pain of someone trying to murder him.

Fuck.

He shouldn’t have been so stupid!

Harry flinched back as the screams grew in decibels as the spell began focusing on the other males insides. It surprised the raven how the blonde had even still been breathing in the first place; his injuries were severe. He flinched again as claws scrambled across his knees, tearing through the fabric of his lounge pants and through to the bare skin.

Ow. Fuck.

He hissed back the pain, keeping his wand trained at Malfoy’s bruised and abused body. Since when had Malfoy acquired claws?

They certainly hadn’t been there before?

“Malfoy. Malfoy!!”

It took an hour for Malfoy to be heaving relatively steady breaths, his heart beating almost a regular tempo as he blinked the sweat from his lashes and tried not to flinch under the tentative ministrations of Harry’s warm wet cloth cleaning his features and body.

Finally, the man had heard him. He’d been scared there.

“…What?” He whispered.

“Do you feel any better? Easier to breathe?” He questioned. It took a minute, but the blonde looked at him with a bit more focus in his grey irises and pushed his arm up with considerable strength to stop the progress of the soft towel on his abdomen.

“Yes…Better, but not perfect…Is that after effects?”

Harry shook his head, “I’m glad to hear it but your lungs will never completely heal. You left that way too long.” He looked uncomfortable that he wasn’t able to heal all ails properly.

His hand twitched over the raven’s. “It’s fine Potter, thank you, it’s better than not breathing at all after all.” A bit of his former smirk resurfaced around bruised lips.

“Hm. Let me heal the rest of your wounds. They shouldn’t be nearly as painful, but it’s still bound to be a considerable amount.” He got a grunt and began on the rest of the wounds, his magic washing over the clammy body. His gentle fingers spread salve onto the surface bruises; Draco’s body twitched as the fingers spread over his sides, fixing the bruises up here; he was a bit ticklish.

Potter seemed to ignore it.

The pain was considerable, but he could wear it; he wasn’t aware, but his nails shifted to claws and tore at the silk sheets.

“Alright. All done. You can rest now…” He breathed out, casting a considerable sanitising charm on his hands as he stretched and pushed his wrists into his back to pop muscles that had gone stiff from sitting in one spot, bent over for the better part of two hours.

He snorted as found Malfoy to have fallen asleep. The rise and fall of his chest was steady if hitching every second breath. There wasn’t anything more he could do. They would never heal completely; as trained as he was in Medi-Wizardry by Madam Pomfrey, he’d told the blonde as such.

He just hoped that it didn’t hinder the blonde in the future, not too much at least. It could have some serious side-effects, one of which being running, like the blonde had obviously been doing, was no longer a choice; if he ran too much or too fast, he would not be able to breathe.

Sighing heavily and pulling the blankets back up to cover the blonde’s half naked body from the cold, he tucked it around him, and head tilted slightly, watched for a moment as the blonde shifted in his sleep, moaning painfully and clutching the sheet.

Quietly, he left the room and returned to his own next door, falling into the warmth and comfort of his large black cherry four poster. His eyes closing and hoping for sleep. If Malfoy had any problems or just woke up, the alarm that he placed would, if he went to sleep at all, wake him back up and he’d run to check on him.

It had been a very long night, or he supposed, a very long early morning as the blonde had arrived at Midnight. Frowning to himself, huffing, he would have to get some very good explanations without any attempts at lying. He shook involuntarily from the cold and snuggled deeper into the covers, once deeper enough that only the tips of his bunny jumper was peaking out above them.

He exhaled in comfort and tried not to think as he closed his eyes and tried to find that out of reach rest.

Draco shifted fitfully in his sleep, wincing as he laid hard on the bruised side of his ribcage; memories of his last few days of Sixth Year to the Present situation surfaced against his will; his relaxed mind letting them in without a fight.

He never wanted to relive those moments, those nightmares, no, those horrible memories, those terrifying realities. He whimpered, one hand clenching in his sweating hair, plastered as it was to his forehead and the other clenching and tearing the fabric of the silk sheets beside his burning stomach.

**BEEEEEEZ**

**BEEEEEZ**

**BEEEEZ**

“Uh?” Harry sat up befuddled, rubbing the side of his numb face; surprise evident the more he woke up that he’d actually managed to fall asleep…For a while, at least.

He began to frown as he looked around, wondering where the odd noise was coming from; it took a moment to click. “SHIT!” Jumping up and running across the cold wooden floorboards, Harry slid to a stop in front of the opened door of his Guest Bedroom; that was supposed to be occupied by a Malfoy. He wasn’t there.

He tilted his head, confused. His hand clenched unconsciously around the doorframe. “Malfoy?” He questioned quietly. A sudden coughing fit from the direction of the bathroom on-suite had Harry rushing toward the barely opened archway. He winced, hissing as he watched Malfoy cradle his head in his hands as he coughed into the toilet.

“Alright?” He questioned, concerned.

Cough

Cough

The platinum head shook. A moan escaping what was undoubtedly a sore throat. He lay his sweat-soaked forehead on the porcelain of the toilet heavily. He looked so weak, so broken, Harry’s heart went out to him just sitting on the cold tiled floor, moaning.

He bit his lip, unsure if he should move further into the room or not. He was getting really concerned whether Malfoy was even coughing anything up or just dry-heaving; even more, if the blonde was coughing out blood with his throw-up; if he was, it wasn’t good.

“Malfoy…”

He got a grunt.

“Are you actually coughing anything up?” Another grunt and a groan as the blonde lifted his head the barest minimum to take a look; he flinched back and put it back onto the toilet rim. The raven frowned, the gesture was worrisome and so was the non-response.

“Malfoy?”

“…”

“Malfoy I need you to answer me.” He let the barest hint of concern lace his words, so the blonde knew he was serious.

“…Yes, I am…” He whispered.

“Food? Flehm? …Blood?” He questioned. He heard the swallow before he received the answer in a shaky voice.

“…Blood…Mostly.”

Eyes widening the raven rushed the remaining few steps into the bathroom and kneeled down beside him, peering into the toilet bowl, what he found confirmed the snow-haired male’s words. He swallowed, biting at the corner of his lower lip before pushing back against the tiled wall so he was leaning up instead of bent down. Able to see properly now, Harry groaned lowly. His hands roamed gently over the bruised flesh of Malfoy’s abdomen; since he had no shirt on.

The blonde winced every-time there was a shift in pressure of Harry’s medium-sized hands. He even whimpered a few.

“Malfoy, I need you to lie down and breathe slowly.”

He didn’t move. Harry’s head slowly lifted from eyeing the flesh to the shiny features and limp white hair. “Now Malfoy.” He growled, putting an authoritative air to his voice. “It was not a suggestion.”

Quickly complying at the angry visage of green Draco slid further down the wall so his head was just at the juncture of floor to wall. He eyed the raven with worry, his stomach hurt, and it was beginning to become hard to breathe again; not sure that had anything to do with the clenching because of the throw up, but it hurt.

He groaned.

Harry rubbed his hands across his own mouth and bit the side. Fuck. Peridot eyes closed for a full minute, ears tuning in to the shallow hitched breaths of the slightly older male before him. Harry’s legs were folded beneath them on the tile, his own breath shallow as he took in all the sounds around him, narrowing down on the subtle ones.

The magic that swirled around the blonde was less than bright and lively, in fact, it was almost completely fizzled out; which was not a good sign for the blonde’s magical career. Just what the hell had happened to Malfoy anyway?

This was the first time he’d seen him since halfway through their Sixth Year, last time he’d seen the blonde was on the Astronomy Tower and then fleeing with Snape. He swallowed and tried to calm his loudly beating heart as he tried not to imagine what inhuman scenario’s Malfoy might have been the star of. Calm Harry, calm just think.

Wait, what was! “Got it!” Quickly Harry moved like lightening across the blonde’s body, his hands halting and starting on his clammy flesh, the plump red teeth bitten lips moved soundlessly except for a few hisses of breath through his teeth.

Draco’s eyes zipped around his own body as he watched Potter work as fast as he’d ever seen anyone be across it; slowly, very slowly it whatever Potter seemed to be doing was working, making breath seemed a little less heavy and easier. Subtly, the changes could be seen as he finished from one spot and moved onto the next, for the next half an hour this went on. The raven never stopped, taking only large gulps of air or wipe his sweating brow.

The whole experience was quite odd to Draco, watching as someone he had known for six years, and who had mutually despised him, treat him with incredible magic with such speed that his hands were mere blurs over your shivering body. He’d never thought it possible; he hadn’t even known the Gryffindor was proficient with that type of magic; hadn’t the idiot been aiming for Auror?

It was odd to see the other male even looking mildly concerned about him; it had made him angry before, like Potter was trying to pity him or something especially when he’d been carried up the stairs; bridal. But he supposed, the was just who Potter was, he worried about everybody and anybody, including his school rival it would seem.

A huge air shattering sigh and Harry was pushing himself up against the wall opposite Draco. Hunching over his legs as he drew them up and shook for a minute. Draco remained quite as he breathed slowly, easier once again, but ultimately with the same hitch and watched the raven, silver eyes slitted.

“You wanted to know who those people were, didn’t you?” “Why I was being chased through the mountain?” It was quiet but the raven still heard it and his moved jerkily on his knees in the affirmative.

“I want to know everything from the END of sixth year.” The raven whispered, only lifting his head slightly, a green shadow gleaming through wet strands of black hair. I want to know why you have claws, actually.

“They were Death Eaters, Potter. Though I know I said that earlier. If you want to know everything from the end of sixth year…Then, you know all about that Dumbledore Fiasco?”

The raven nodded again, silently.

“Hm, where do I start from then?” He frowned.

“Hm. When you left?”

“When I left…” Okay. “Okay. Sev—I mean Snape, he took me to this secluded cabin in the middle of the woods, it was covered in snow like here too, just like now it was July.” He frowned. Bazaar. “And after telling me to stay put, no, demanding I do so, he left me there, alone, by myself in the middle of nowhere, among the creatures of the forests. But I assume he left to return to the Dark Lord, then went back to Hogwarts; he had some hairbrained scheme, the Dark Lord. Snape never came back; some protector he turned out to be.” He sneered momentarily.

The raven was shaking his head, lifting it from his knees. As if to deny something but not saying so as Draco went on, “As if I was just going to stay there and starve to death; the prick never left any food and he told me not use my magic; because they’d track it.”

“So…I became proficient in gathering from the surrounding forest. I suppose that’s something; learning life lessons. I learned not to trust. I had no way of knowing what was happening, if either side was winning or losing, if my parents were safe, if my Dad was still heading towards NUTS, and no way of knowing that if I simply stayed there, that I would be safe. I was afraid, 16 and abandoned in the woods. Fuck, I am not an outdoors type of person; you get that right?”

He saw Potter nod again and bring his lip up in a pout of agreement.

“They found me, eventually.” He sighed. “But that was because I was naïve, stupid, a child that was asking why everyone abandoned him, why I had to go through this alone? My Father was furious when we returned back to the Manor, and I was thrown at my Father’s feet.

He showed me just how much I disappointed him that night, but that wasn’t what did this.” He waved vaguely, uncomfortable now. “There was a meeting that night, called by the Dark Lord who still en-captured my childhood home as his base of operations. My Father was asked to publicly reprimand me, as a show of loyalty. I had disrespected the Snake after all by not doing my task.

The Dark Lord was overjoyed when he acquiesced, but this was different to how my Father usually quelled disobedience. It was a whole new level for him; it was brutal.” He didn’t know why he felt compelled to tell Potter the truth, but…It felt good, to get it off his chest and somehow better BECAUSE it was Potter.

“Snape wasn’t there, at least, I don’t think he was. I would hope that if he ever saw me there he would try something to stop or lessen the punishment I received but I suppose that would be hoping for too much. He would not have blown his cover me, I was only a student to him, not even his favourite; he just played favourites to appease, to blend his cover like he harass you.” He laughed derisively.

Harry’s eyes widened upon hearing that the blonde had been humiliated and punished before a crowd of Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. “You knew about Snape’s status?”

The blonde nodded, “I did. I didn’t find out until halfway through the year when I realised Mother had asked him to watch over me.”

“Ah.”

“Should I continue?” He questioned.

Harry nodded quickly, waving him on.

“Well, um, after their little show, came the Dark Lord’s personal pleasure, you see Potter, that amount of pain wasn’t enough for the Dark Lord. So yanking my hair to look up at their precious leader, the Snake hissed something in parseltongue at me. I have no idea what he said of course, I don’t speak Snake, but I could probably take a wild guess and say it something like EXECUTION for any further disobedience.”

“Pretty sure I blacked out, I remember feeling a very dangerous aura wrapping around me, invading my personal space and strangely tickling me my magic; I now how odd that sounds, but that’s what it felt like. It was weird. Then, it felt like boiling knives were entering my body and twisting just to up the agony.” He shifted uncomfortably, trying not to look at Potter. It was really bazaar that he felt the urge not to leave anything out the raven was asking about.

“Okay…Then what?” He sounded like he already knew that he hadn’t been told something important.

The blonde shifted again, “Well, I didn’t disobey of course, I physically couldn’t. I’m almost positive they sent me to Battle. I woke up, I use that term loosely, when it was all over; at least, I assume the war was done and dusted. I had no clue who had won, until people were rushing passed me where I lay pretending to be dead with the rest, and someone thankfully said that their side, your side, had won.” He took a heavy breath, blowing it out through his nose. Pushing down on his stomach for a brief moment.

He didn’t miss the way Potter’s emeralds followed the action and his brow drew inwards. “I remember feeling extremely relieved.”

“I saw you.”

“What?” The blonde spat.

“Just for a second. I couldn’t be sure at the time if it had been you, but it had to have been and now this confirms it.”

“But no else recognised me, I couldn’t recognise myself. Who could you?” He frowned.

The raven only hummed.

“I was covered in blood…”

“Right.” He looked uncomfortably at Draco’s bruised body.

Draco’s eyes followed, “Ah, no. That wasn’t this. Not all at any rate, mostly the blood had been from those assholes that were chasing me through that blizzard of yours.” He pointed.

  
“My Blizzard?” Harry frowned.

The blonde shrugged.

“…Okay, so now we get to why they were chasing you?” He pressed.

“Yes. I disobeyed in battle, so I was told. I killed quite a number of their own men.” He shrugged, completely nonplussed about the whole thing, why should he care? He’d contributed to the right side and they won, it may not have been him that had made a big dint but his conscious felt better that despite being their puppet for a while, he had taken their own lives.

Harry blinked, “You aren’t concerned you killed people Malfoy?”

He opened his mouth and then closed it for a second, “Well, I can’t say I’m thrilled that they made me a murderer when I wasn’t one before. You know that. I didn’t have the heart for it. Dumbledore, right? But I can’t say that I had much of a choice in the matter and let’s face it, I probably wouldn’t have had much choice even if I hadn’t been turned into a Puppet.

I wasn’t the only one that had no choice in killing people Potter, didn’t you do that too?”

Harry nodded as he sighed in resignation, his head laying back on his knees, eyes staring off into space. The blonde jerked as he suddenly snorted, “That’s true enough I suppose, I apologise for the comment then. I’m a murderer too.”

“Mm, well I’m sure you have some remorse for all those you killed, even if they were followers for the Dark Lord. There were bound to be a lot that you knew from school right? Besides, you’re a Gryffindor.” He snorted himself and shifted to accommodate the hard tiles under his thin underwear encased bum.

Harry blinked, staring at him funny. “What’s being a Gryffindor got to do with anything?”

The blonde shrugged. “Chivalry. Justice. You PERSONALLY wear your heart on your sleeve…So…” His head tilted.

Harry’s eyebrows rose at this as his own head tilted the opposite way, green eyes suddenly glittering. “PERSONALLY, I’m not much of Gryffindor at Heart; I did say there was much you didn’t know.”

“Oh?”

Harry laughed.

Draco waited patiently for further explanation. The raven simply shook his head, not wanting to give him that information. Draco supposed, if the raven hadn’t given his own friends half of his secrets then he wasn’t about to give them to Draco.

“Earn your keep.”

“What. It’s three in the morning, you know. I’m tired.”

Harry snorted, “I know.”

The blonde sighed heavily, putting his head into his hand. “Well, when no one was in sight I simply ran as fast as I could before apparating, despite the injuries I had sustained. It burned and stung and was generally agonising, but I obviously couldn’t stay there. So, like I said, I was a naïve stupid child. They played cat and mouse with me, following me around where ever I apparated to, never staying in one spot for too long. I got tired, I was in pain, I’d splinched myself, my reserves were suffering but I ended up apparating back to the cabin twice.

They caught me there, just as they had before. They were angry, not just at me, but at you. You’d taken out their precious Dark leader, I’d killed their friends and family. I hadn’t healed any of my wounds, I couldn’t feel them, but my wounds had started to fester because of it.

The raven’s lip twitched but frowned when the blonde spoke of being splinched and letting his wounds fester; it really wouldn’t have done him any good. They sat in silence for some time, and Harry tried to ignore that the blonde had started blinking quicker and had begun to silently cry; he didn’t appear to notice this himself.

Though he had hunched in on himself. “Perhaps, we should go back to the bedroom.” It wasn’t a suggestion. He probably should have thought of it much earlier and laughed sheepishly as he stood and leaned down to pull the blonde to his feet.

Malfoy sniffled, seeming to frown as he noticed that his face wasn’t just wet with sweat but with tears also. He blinked quickly, hurriedly wiping them away before stretching out his hand to get the aid.

They walked swiftly into the bedroom, and Harry’s presence was ignored as he sat on the edge of the mattress. “Can I?” The blonde’s head only moved an inch in acceptance but seeing it Harry smiled and hurried to the other side, situating himself comfortably. “Go on.”

An awkward coughing fit and the blonde quietly started where he left off. “I didn’t succeed very well, obviously. I was captured, because they were tracking me, they always had been. I was such an idiot!” The blonde smacked his head backwards and the raven jerked forward, a hand coming up to halt the frantic motion against the headboard.

The blonde blinked. “I wanted to bang my head against a wall but of course they did that for me. Well, Father did that for me.” He frowned suddenly. “You haven’t said anything about that…” “…Was there nothing wrong with my head?” He questioned.

“There was.” There was no way he would miss something like that. “It wasn’t a good injury. I healed it the same time as I healed your other injuries. My wand was at your chest, my hand was up near your head. It’s also why I prevented further smacking. That is not a good idea.”

The blonde blinked, turning his head again.

“Oh. Wait! You can do wandless magic?!” The raven nodded; head bowed. It wasn’t something he was entirely proud of, nor would he ever be considering. Draco’s head tilted, trying to see why Potter’s face looked so distressed. Why would you not be proud to perform wandless magic? Let alone such powerful magic. “Why are you not…” He started, frowning fiercely.

The raven shook his head, taking a larger than normal breath before blowing it out through his nose. “It’s another one of those secrets Malfoy. Continue your story. Please.”

The blonde blinked but shrugged as he spoke. “Okay…”

“I was tortured, every day and every night…There may have been a few occasions where they would leave me alone to rest or whatever but most of those months were a complete blur to me.” “I’m not surprised by that, I’m actually glad that I can’t recall much of it. Having ones own father hurt them in such a way isn’t exactly something a child wants to ever experience; it had just never seemed that bad before, my mother usually interfered if it got a little out of hand.” He started to sound sarcastic, gripping at the rumpled sheets. “I don’t recall how I escaped the other night, but somehow, I managed it, apparating here to the mountain even though I’ve never been here before there was a vague image that lead me here.”

Harry blinked. Odd. It was still frustrating and annoyed that his wards had actually let the blonde in. “That’s it? That’s the story? All of it?” The blonde nodded, avoiding eye contact as Harry turned on the bed to face the other man. The peridot almond eyes narrowed, searching for the lies and the hidden truths beyond the action.

The blonde swallowed.

After a moment, the raven let the issue go, running his hands through his messy black locks. “Potter, I want to know what you meant earlier and about your wandless magic.”

“…What? What about my wandless magic?” He eyed him unconcernedly from under his fridge.

“Why do you have that expression when you talk about it? You should be proud you can accomplish wandless magic, let alone that you can use your wand at the same time. Potter, I could feel the power radiating from you earlier…”

“You want to know why?”

The blonde nodded.

“I don’t want it. I don’t want to be powerful Malfoy. I don’t want people to be afraid of me under all that smiling congratulatory façade. I defeated Voldemort with that wandless magic, Malfoy. I killed Death Eater’s with that wandless magic, I killed people I thought were my friends with that magic. Malfoy, when I get angry I scare people. I can’t control it with my temper. It goes wild! I don’t want it!” He screamed abruptly. “I can’t control it with half of my emotions when they’re really strong and impulsive. I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore. I don’t want to hurt my friends! I don’t want to be thought of the of the next New Dark Lord. I don’t want to be this powerful, Malfoy. That. That is why.” He hiccupped then, pushing his face into his hands, his body onto the edge of the mattress, ready to flee.

“Potter…”

He shook his head, “Don’t. Just…Don’t.” The blonde sighed and pushed his white hair back out of his face, moving his head to rest hesitantly on Potter’s shoulder blades.

“I’m sorry.” And he was, truthfully.

“I said don’t. Just leave it.” He shrugged off the blonde and stood, smoothing down his lounge pants and hoodie. He sighed disheartened. “I think you should rest a little more, it is still pretty early in the morning.” He took a few more steps before he was stopped by the blonde’s hand stretching out to encircle his wrist. An unknown pleading look took over his silver eyes, staring into the emerald irises. Harry made a noise, “You need to rest.”

“I don’t want to. I’m not tired. Potter, what did you mean when you said you weren’t Gryffindor at heart? What is that supposed to mean…?”

He sighed heatedly, “It means I wasn’t supposed to be in Gryffindor. I asked the hat to put me there.”

“What?” He said incredulously. “You ASKED the hat to put you in Gryffindor?”

Harry nodded. “Yes. I asked it too and it did. Granted, it sounded pretty put out about it.”

“Then what house were you SUPPOSED to be in?” He stared.

Harry turned completely in the grip, disentangling the fingers around his wrist and pulling Malfoy toward him, locking his arm in a tight grip. He leaned into the pale face, his eyes wide, a smirk forming on his plump lips. He practically purred into the perplexed expression. “Slytherin.”

“S…S…Slytherin?!”

Harry let go quickly and backed up at the shout. He laughed as he dodged the arms that tried to grab him and the pillow that flew towards his face when he spelled the blonde to the mattress wandlessly. He ran out of the room, yelling behind him. “Get some rest! Call Tal when you wake up and she’ll show you to wherever I am at the time!!” Because he wasn’t about to head back to sleep.

Draco just that there, glued to the mattress, completely derailed and frazzled. “Slytherin. Fuck. Potter’s an actual Snake in a Lion’s pelt.” He was talking to himself in the quiet and dark room. He felt as though his whole life had just been completely flipped upside down and then thrown into of those Muggle washing machine’s he’d read about.

He could still hear Potter chuckling as he waltzed down the stairs.

The prat. He must have been highly amused.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two: More Secrets.**

The morning was barely starting, the yellow sun was just rising from its slumber and the light of the sky had just begun intermingling grey with a beautiful blue; inevitably the storm that had struck Harry’s property was there to stay.

Harry sat at the kitchen table, drinking his hot Earl Grey and reading the Quibbler; a much better magazine then the crappy paper they called the Daily Prophet. It always would be. He was reading something interesting on what Luna, or her Father or someone not quite sane enough was writing an article about, The Spirit of Lucifer, and didn’t notice until the magazine was being ripped from his hands that someone else had risen from slumber and had decided to breakfast early.

“Thanks for gluing me to the bed for an hour.” He huffed, Harry only smiled, head tilted. “What are you reading?” He sneered down at the odd magazine in his hands and threw it onto the other side of the kitchen table, picking up one of the crispy pieces of bacon that sat on Harry’s greasy plate.

Harry glared and snatched the magazine back up, continuing to read and sip his tea, ignoring Malfoy’s hands as they reached for another peace of his bacon.

“Do you plan to…” The sound of owl wings had Draco’s words cutting themselves off and his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Harry snorted as he looked up, stood and let the small bundle of feathers into the warmth; it was covered in snow.

“Relax Malfoy. It’s just Pig.” He laughed but was confused why the owl was here. The wards shouldn’t have let it in either. He huffed and snorted when the blonde blinked at him in concern.

“It’s a what? Potter, I think you need new glasses. That, is an owl.” He pointed and started to sound like he was talking to a particular dense human. “Though admittedly a pretty pipsqueak one.”

Harry shook his head and rolled his eyes. “No. I don’t. I do realise it is an Owl, Malfoy. His NAME is Pig; short for Pigwidgeon.” He shrugged. “He’s Ron’s personal Owl.”

“Weasley has an Owl?” He questioned.

“Yes.”

“Looks like a flying ball of fluff.”

Harry burst out laughing and Malfoy looked at him oddly.

“I know, it’s funny how many times that’s actually been said. Oddly enough, this doesn’t seem to be from Ron at all, not that he knows where this is, like I said, or any Owl’s should be getting in here in the first place.” He stared at the letters as he took them from the huffing ball. “It seems someone’s using the poor thing as a Hogwarts Owl. It’s a long way from Hogwarts, here.” He stared suspiciously at the little feathered puff and poked its stomach with an owl treat gently.

“I think I’ll go and strengthen my wards again, just in case. I don’t want anybody to find this place, especially those Death Eater’s. They could still be wandering the mountain range.” Even though, least of all my friends was left unsaid, Draco still picked up on them. It was strange, how he could sense things different about people now.

“I’ll open these then?” He questioned, holding up the two Hogwarts sealed envelopes that Potter had thrown to the marbled kitchen table; seemed marble and black cherry wood were the running theme in this house. He handed a piece of bacon to the pecking little beast that now sat before his hand.

The raven nodded as he left; the front door closing behind him with a, “SHIT, that’s freezing!”

Using the discarded butterknife that sat waiting to BE used again, Draco slit the envelopes and removed them. He frowned immediately at the Green inked words that spread across both yellowed parchments. He knew that writing.

_Former Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)_

_Present Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall_

_(Order of Merlin Second Class)_

Dear Mister Potter,

Please note that in the recent circumstances that have surrounded your seventh and last year of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, we would like for you to consider finishing your education with the rest of your exempted peers who have been reaccepted.

This will officially be: Eighth Year, Trainee Year, or simply affectionately nicknamed the Phoenix House.

Those of you who wish to return will have all the same privileges as Seventh Years with a few add-ons. Note that this group of young men and women will share a common room and dormitories; as this is an exception to Hogwarts prior years, you will not be able to participate in House Points, House Cup or Quidditch teams.

A crying shame Mister Potter.

As this is an unofficial declaration of Hogwarts staff and board of governors, you are not subject to school curfews but we highly stress that curfews are a good choice. As you are no longer 17, are allowances, and are legal adults, you are free to do what you would like in your free time; but please be responsible.

Please study hard for your N.E.W.T’s.

The new school year will of course begin on September 1st. The Hogwarts Express will leave King’s Cross Station, Platform Nine and Three Quarters at exactly 11 o’clock. Please, do not miss it, get yourself locked out of the gateway or drive any flying cars into Hogwarts grounds.

Draco snickered. The last part had been purely for Potter’s benefit. Who wrote these letters anyway? McGonagall?

We hope for your return,

Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress.

With thanks,

Severus Snape, Deputy.

Ah, so it was written by Old Lady McGonagall then? It definitely seemed quite personal. Draco scoffed at the letter abruptly but gasped when his eyes scanned the three little words on the bottom of the missive. No way. He hadn’t thought to see it anywhere but on a gravestone somewhere.

He was alive?!

Shakily putting the letter aside, he picked up the other with a swallow.

It read the same way, with the difference of his name, and this;

_Most unfortunate, Mister Malfoy, however under the ever watchful eyes of the Ministry and those of us that have not seen you since the middle of your Sixth Year; you are a criminal and if you do decide to return for your very last year to take your N.E.W.T’s that you will have to abide by some pre-set conditions._

_Upon your return, you will have to be subjected to Veritaserum with Two very well trained Aurors and both Headmistress and Deputy will be in attendance._

_If you are find to have wronged the Aurors you will be taken to the Ministry to await trial and retribution. However, if you are find to have BEEN wronged and in fact are innocent of all crimes you are to allowed once more attend this fine institution if you wish so._

_You will be allowed to visit Hogsmeade on weekends but under strict supervision. Diagon Alley will remain banned._

_Please do your best and study hard for your N.E.W.T’s._

_The new school year will begin on September 1 st. The Hogwarts Express will leave King’s Cross Station, Platform Nine and Three Quarters at exactly 11 o’clock. _

The last little closing message was reversed for him, which was odd. A second look reaffirmed that Potter had also received a second bit of parchment detailing for equipment they would need if they returned. Shakily, hands gripping the sides of the letter in a tight grasp, crinkling the edges, he re-read over the missives. If he were to return, he would be subjected to truth serum? Wow.

So, if Snape was there and HE was Deputy Headmaster, then did that mean Snape had been subjected to the same thing? Had he had a trial at the Ministry? How had he been acquitted?

What about him though?

He was the son of a notorious Death Eater, the nephew of another, and he had done so many horrible things when he had been puppet. Could THAT somehow be read as innocence? Would he get a fair trial? Or would he spent the last of his days in a cramped, wet and dreary holding cell in Azkaban?

By the time Potter came back into the kitchen, the Hogwarts letters and their equipment lists were crushed in his fingers; the sides tearing and crinkling around the claws his nimble limbs had created.

“Malfoy?”

[][][]

“Malfoy?” He said immediately upon entering the kitchen.

The blonde didn’t respond.

“Malfoy? Malfoy, for merlin’s sake! What’s wrong? Are you okay? What are those?” He pried one page from the tight grip and quickly read over the florescent green ink. He re-read it several times before letting out a ragged breath and turning his head back to the blonde.

As he sat in the chair in front of him, “You got one too, I take it?”

The blonde nodded without a word.

Harry nodded back slowly and sighed again, running his hands through his messy locks that were sprinkled in white snow flecks.

“What do you want to do? I expect your letter isn’t anything like mine…” Wordlessly the blonde handed the crinkled parchment to him and he looked over it twice. “Well, I suppose that’s fair enough. So what do you want to do?” He asked again shifting his weight to lean against the closest marble-topped kitchen counter.

Draco shrugged awkwardly then turned to face him. “Who knows? I’m a criminal Potter, even if I do take Veritaserum what would stop them from sending me to Azkaban, even if I am innocent? Which I’m not. Besides, doesn’t the fact I’m a Malfoy weigh heavily on that outcome?” I’d be damned either way. He thought, sneering and snorting derisively before Harry could form any words of intending comfort. “Disowned son.”

Harry crossed his arms and eyed him, “Well…Make a choice. Take the chance that this will work out? Be positive and return to Hogwarts, with the added advantage of the Saviour TRUSTING you, or stay here forever?”

It was a moment, in which Draco threw his head a few times against the marbled kitchen table in something so un-Malfoy like that the raven quickly jumped forward with a Quibbler magazine to soften the blows to his forehead. He couldn’t very well stop the blonde from doing so, but he could help.

“I’ll go if you do.” The blonde grumbled; his head now angled to stare.

Harry smirked. “Oh, I plan too.”

Draco frowned, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. The only response however that the annoying raven gave was a chuckle, a poke of his tongue and his arm reaching around him to grab his cooled tea before draining everything to the last dreg.

Draco licked his lips, watching the gulps of the Adams Apple.

[][][]

The next couple of weeks were spent first celebrating Potter’s birthday with the raven baking his own birthday cake and sitting them birth down in the library to eat it and play a couple rounds of exploding snap whilst they drank varying bottles of alcohol.

Harry locked himself way in the study after that where Draco could occasionally hear him swearing behind the heavy set wood door, or talking to someone beyond.

He wasn’t sure on that so spent most of the time ignoring it, whilst they ignored each other whenever they got on each other’s nerves, which admittedly was quite often, and easy to accomplish.

But then, then it was suddenly September 1st.

“Malfoy, hurry it up!”

Draco cursed and attempted to both run and walk at the same time, from the bathroom, fixing his owl ordered new attire; he almost went straight of his bedroom without his trunk that Potter had gifted him. Cursing, he ran back for it and tripped over the corridor floor rug. “Fuck!” He swore.

“Malfoy!”

“I’m coming! I’m coming! Don’t get your wand in a knot!” He heard the echoing laugh as he almost fell down the stairs, rushing.

The raven raised an eyebrow as he finally fell down the last two steps. Heaving giant breaths and shaking at the close call. He glared as he eyed the raven’s expression. “Well com eon then, since your in such a giant rush to get to the station.” He sniffed, gathering back his dignity and taking careful steps to the front door and holding it mockingly open for the Master of the household.

Harry chuckled heartedly as he shook his head, waving his hand and watching as both trunks zoomed out into the frosted grounds and straight to the opened door of the silver Jaguar XF-R that sat in the driveway.

His eyes widened it was the first time he had seen it.

“It’s called a C-a-r.” The raven enunciated. He looked highly amused as he strode to the car and opened the other side, sitting down in the driver’s seat sideways. He calle across the vehicle. “Coming or not? We only have twenty minutes to get to King’s Cross Station, platform nine and three quarters AND onto the Hogwarts Express.” 

Shaking himself and running carefully to the already opened door, he sat down, pulling the door shut with finality on the biting chill Potter’s home brought them. His lids blinked as he looked at the interior of the vehicle.

“Put that on.” Potter pointed to the seatbelt beside him.

He huffed. “This is Beautiful!” He sounded awed and Potter apparently couldn’t help laughing at him again as he buckled his own seatbelt and started up the engine. In a magically enhanced vehicle they were zooming down the snow-covered dirt roads of the mountain and into the uncovered roads of the city, then into the packed parking lot of King’s Cross where they shrank and pocketed the car, and practically ran with their trunks in their hands to find a trolley and then run through the station to the hidden gateway and onto the platform where the Express was puffing; they only had 10 minutes to spare.

Heaving and coughing, Draco leaned heavily against the side brick of the bustling platform.

“Shit! Malfoy, Malfoy are you okay? Can you breathe?” The raven’s eyes took on that concerned tint again, making the green darken to emerald and only grew as Draco wheezed out an,

“I’m fine.” Breaths slow and stuttering.

“Damn it. Here, this might help.” He pulled something odd looking out of his coat pocket and pressed it forcefully to Draco’s lips. The lips steadfastly remained closed as began scowling down at the device. “Oh come on. I didn’t want to use it, but it will. I promise, and it isn’t entirely Muggle, I’ve modified it…If that’s why you’re hesitating.”

Draco blinked upwards, staring intensely at the green that stared intensely back. Ah fuck. “No. You’re shoving something to my mouth, Potter.” He huffed, his words muffled around the end of the instrument that remained resolutely pressed to his mouth.

The raven rolled his eyes at this and barked a laugh, “Okay. Muggle’s call it an **Inhaler**. You inhale the liquid inside, and it allows you to breathe easier. It’s use is for those with breathing difficulties.” A vague hand waved in the middle of nowhere. “Muggle’s use it primarily if they’re Asthmatic.” He continued then looked to the heavens when Draco simply stared at him. “Never mind. It just helps you breathe easier than you are. I’ve spent weeks modifying **for** you, after getting the idea. I went out and bought it at the Muggle Village nearby, it doesn’t matter, it will just help, so open your mouth.”

Draco hesitated as he did as he was old, however when with a push of Potter’s manicured fingernail pushing down on the odd button at the top, and something squirted into his mouth he began coughing and he roughly pushed the prat back as he bent forwards; it burned.

He glared when he finally felt he could stand, he kept the arm at a distance as it tried to return. He winced.

“You need to INHALE, Malfoy, breathe it in when I push the button.” He tapped said button a few times and put the medicine resolutely back before Draco’s thinned lips. Patient as ever, he waited as Draco tried not to notice that many people had now stopped to stare at the two of them.

Slowly, he opened his mouth enough for the device to be inserted an inch and then with body tense he waited for the prat to press the button; when he did, he began flailing, struggling to breathe as he was patted by another hand on his shoulder and Potter’s beautiful and aggravating laugh in his ear.

“See? That’s better.” He snickered, trying to contain it. “You’ll get used to it, though I hope you don’t have to use it that often. It is after all only for when you feel you need a little help with breathing.” He leaned closer, and tucked the medicine into Draco’s leather coat pocket and then nodded once as he retreated, picking up his luggage.

“Now then, we need to get on the train.”

Draco nodded and quickly headed after the raven as they headed for the center of the train, trunk in hand. He felt considerably lighter than he should have, and ended up scowling at the poor porter that took their accessories and waved them onto the train.

An awkward silence descended here, standing in the middle of the hallway. Neither knew what they should do now, or where they should be going. Whether they go together or they part ways? Shrugging after a moment, taking the plunge Harry grabbed the Blonde’s arm and pulled him down to the Slytherin end of the train.

Draco’s eyes widened, pulling him to a stop and causing him to turn around, “Are you serious?” He asked incredulously, staring at the raven like he’d grown three extra heads.

Harry nodded determinately. “Yes. I’m not going back to Gryffindor, Draco.” He frowned to himself a moment, as he said this but then nodded none the less and headed for the compartment that he hoped actually didn’t contain anyone he knew.

[][][]

Unfortuntely, that was exactly what they found as the raven dragged the blonde straight into a compartment and right into an Eigth Year private conversation.

The next thing he knew there was a wince travelling through the raven and straight through HIS body as an echo, when a screech rent the air of the small cramped space. “Draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaco!!” She was up and squeezing him, to what look like an inch of the blonde’s life, as he stood coughing and trying to pry her off as he clearly wheezed.

The other occupants now sat, fully alert as they noticed that Draco wasn’t the only one among them, and that that other occupant was now glaring quite feircely at Pansy.

His hands were clenched in his trousers.

“Pan…Pans…PANSY!” He finally shouted, working up the breath.

“What?” She jumped, but she didn’t let go and only tightened her hold.

“I can…I can’t…I can’t brea…” Harry could actually HEAR him trying to breath so he growled. His eyes flashed as his fist clenched beside him and SHE was being forcefully shoved against the far side of the compartment, against the window.

She yelped, blinked, pouted and began to tear before those eyes narrowed after realising that it hadn’t actually been Draco to do it.

It had been, “Potter?” She said incredulously.

Draco breathed in gratefully, a hand resting now on the raven’s shaking arm, who’s hand was once more clenched to painful degrees into the side of his trounsers. “Thanks.” He whispered. “That’s enough.”

Harry shook his head, his dark green eyes on the screech of a woman. “I don’t need the thanks. That cow shouldn’t even have the right to be here, let alone being squeezing the air out of you as she was.” He hissed dangerously.

Draco blinked, taken aback, “What?” He questioned.

The emerald eyes burned with fury and an unspoken curse that seemed to be just itching to break from the surface of Potter’s secretive tongue. “Why are you here?” He growled.

“I think that’s our question, actually. This is the Slytherin end of the train, Potter. It’s always been that way.” She hissed, smoothing down her skirt and shirt as she sneered at him, taking her seat back as she stared at the raven with superiority.

“Don’t you sneer at me like that you little BITCH.”

Draco’s eyes widened. “Potter…” It was quiet.

“Answer me!” Harry shouted suddenly, ignoring everything else, even the fact that the train had now began moving from the platform.

“I have every right to be here.” She spat, crossing her arms. “I was invited back by a Hogwarts letter.” She poked her tongue out then, almost glaring at Harry defiantly against Potter’s obvious ire.

Probbaly not the best move, she could have made.

“You. YOU, got a Hogwarts letter to return?” He scoffed.

“Yes Potter. I did. A Hogwarts letter. I have EVERY right to be here, just as much as you. I didn’t do anything wrong!!” She suddenly shouted as if that was what triggered her own ire. “I did what anyone else would have done if they hadn’t been afraid of you! I was scared! What are you doing here anyway? Didn’t you go and disappear, didn’t you go and run away from what YOU left behind?! Shouldn’t YOU be the one locked up in Azkaban? That’s where many think you should be, don’t you? You murdered people! Innocent people! You slaughtered them! You defeated the Dark Lord, you did that, with nothing but a fucking HAND!! Aren’t you worried you’ll be exactly like him?! That you’ll become the next Dark Lord?

You have all that POWER, and you have no idea how to WIELD it!” She was heaving as she smoothed down her skirt again, having stood once more on her danty heels, and brushed away the hand from Blaise who glared beside her on the bench seat. She flicked her hair back afterwards, as she started to calm and turned from him.

If she had looked, if she hadn’t turned her back on him, she might have noticed the way he was now standing, how her words had struck a chord and a line she shouldn’t have crossed.

His eyes were ablaze, his hands were clenched so tightly by his sides that his nails were drawing blood and dripping onto the thin carpet. His jaw clenched and unclenched, his breathing was shallow and heavy and his magic was thick beside Draco; who practically recoiled into the opposite walled seat.

He took one step forward and the compartment doors and windows shattered, and with the echoing cries and HOLY FUCKS from down the hallway; it hadn’t just been this one.

The eyes of all the occupants of the compartment were wide, and everyone froze as several heads poked their way around the doorway, peeking in on the scene.

“You…You…You Bitch.” Another step and Harry’s hand was coming down fast toward her suddenly upturned face, that was rapidly beginning to pale.

Draco had no idea what came over him, but suddenly he was across the compartment and between them as the hand came down hard, striking him instead. He winced and knew his body flew from the ground to smack straight through the shattered compartment doorframe to hit his head HARD against the wall of the hallway.

He thought he heard something crack but he couldn’t have been sure as he groaned and grabbed at his head, taking in deep uneven and agonising breaths.

[][][]

Harry stood there, blinking, a frowning beginning to cross his angry features as his raven head slowly went sideways, and his hands came down in clear confusion. “What…” It took a moment but he closed his eyes when everything caught up, in agony and frustration. “Why, did, you, do, that?”

Another groaned hitch of Draco’s breathing was his only answer.

“Of for, FUCKS SAKE DRACO!” The raven all but shouted, pushing his hand through his messy hair until it was standing on end and rushed to the blonde idiot, kneeling down beside him and immediately pushing him back into the wall as he pushed his hands into the heaving stomach; the blonde winced.

[][][]

Hissing, Harry angled his angry eyes on the blonde, who winced again at the clear reprimand and anger written there. He swallowed. “I’m sorry…” He wheezed, closing his eyes in agony.

“Why the hell would you do that?!” He shook his head, still angry. Draco was shrugging, he had no idea why he HAD done that. She DID deserve the slap, he knew that but he didn’t want Potter to do that, for, some, reason. The raven stared, completely unaware of the blonde’s thoughts. They weren’t his first ones, but he wasn’t sure what to make about the thoughts…Exactly.

More stares bore down at them as they conversed without taunts and Harry Potter, oh missing savior was touching the criminal death eater almost worriedly, and he wasn’t spitting back into his face.

Probably quite the shock for the Hogwarts student body. By the end of the train ride everyone would know what had transpired on the Hogwarts Express between the duo; whatever that was to be.

Hogwarts was fraught with ridiculous rumors.

Leaning over Harry shoved his hand into Draco’s coat pocket, pulled out the medicine he had placed there earlier under the odd gazes and being as per usual, forceful, he shoved the end forcefully into Draco’s barely parted lips, which he frowned at as he eyed everyone around them; Draco’s cheeks began to tinge crimson.

“Malfoy.” Potter hissed, looking annoyed.

Hesitant, but ultimately not wanting to annoy or anger the raven prat any further, especially not AT him, Draco licked his chapped lips, opening them a bit more so that the inhaler would comfortably JUST sit inside the wet cavern, and simply waited for the raven to press his finger down on the square button.

He should probably do this himself but he could barely feel any of his body right now; he had no means to protest.

Push. Inhale. Cough.

COUGH.

“Huck!”

Draco pushed the inhaler away quickly away as he doubled over with immense burning pain and coughed again in agony.

“Fuck.” The raven swore. “No, no, Malfoy don’t hunch over! You’re going to make it worse!” He pushed him quickly back down and fully onto his back, uncaring of the stares that they were receiving and pushed the blonde’s shirt up to his chin.

Several people gasped and both dark emerald and storm grey rolled, neither cared for the reasons. Potter placed warm and gentle hands onto taught and bruised flesh and pushed as gently as he could, until the stomach visible depressed.

The tongue was bit as Draco winced feircely, moaning for coughing. The take in of a deep breath and the let out, with the closing of his eyes, let the raven’s breaths slow so that he could hear the inner-workings of the blonde’s troubled body as only HE could.

Madam Pomfrey had always said it was a rare gift; it was almost like a meditative state, something Harry had never been able to accomplish before, certaintly not when he had needed the skill for Occlumency; something he had been in dire need to learn at the time.

But apparently, this state was something only he could attain when someone was in dire need of him to be that way. With the idiot that put himself before Harry’s ire, that seemed to be quite often.

Unknown to himself, his hands began to glow.

**Concentrate. Concentrate Harry. Listen. Follow the flow.**

The next few minutes were tense, stressful for everyone as they watched with bated awed breath as Harry Potter, Saviour, young man that had completely disappeared after he’d saved them all, seemed to be actually HEALING his school nemesis, and WANDLESSLY, and SOUNDLESSLY.

Several people came rushing down the hallway of the train, making a ruckus as they tried to push their way through the milling crowd that blocked their path. They were shouting his name.

He frowned annoyedly, scrunching his eyes tighter, harder, blocking everything out that wasn’t Draco.

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

“Harry!”

“Harry?!”

He frowned even more as he felt Draco’s breath worsen right after hearing his name being called through a heavy fog. He pushed harder into the taunt abs, pushing deep until he felt that telltale hitch in breath before letting up, relieving the pressure and using his magic to flush and thin the fluid that had suddenly rushed to a place it really shouldn’t have been.

He took a heavy breath. He sat there a moment, shuddering then slowly opened his eyes, one by one and then narrowing on Draco’s upturned face as the blonde sat up and stared at him, biting a lip.

“You uh…You’re still angry, huh?” He questioned.

Harry didn’t respond but nodded, emerald eyes vivid under the lighting.

“I said I was sorry…” He mumbled, breathing shallow.

“You expect that to mean something? Malfoy, come on, you just did something incredibly stupid!” He yelled, flailing his arms around like a lunatic as he stared at the blonde incredulously.

The blonde groaned as he coloured. “You were about to hit a girl.”

“What?” He blinked. “So? She’s Parkinson. That doesn’t count.”

He groaned again as he rubbed across his forehead, feeling like he would much rather rub the back of his head to try and get rid of this weird light buzzing that seemed to fade in and out. It was almost as if he could feel Potter’s magic there, and he wondered if the prat was even aware he was doing it. “No…She may not, to you but Potter’s she’s still a woman and you were about to HIT her. You’re Harry Potter for fucks sake, you can’t just DO that.”

The idiot made a face.

“…You were just proving her point.” He said instead.

This made the raven rear back like Draco had just hit him. He’d known the raven would do that, but he felt like they were the truth. He had a strong sense not to lie to the jewel eyed, idiot. Though he wasn’t sure why that was? He put his head in his hands a moment as the fade in and out of magic slowly receded and he saw the deflated and crushed look on the other’s handsome features. “Potter…” He whispered.

Harry shook his head, his teeth gnawing on his bottom lip within. He stood, blinked a few times more than completely necessary and swallowed thickly. “I um…” The mess shook again as he turned on his boot heel, walking even further down the Slytherin end of the train carriage, away from his friends.

“Potter!” He stood hurriedly, someone coming to his aid.

Harry continued walking.

“Harry, wait!” He shouted.

The man stopped mid-step, turned slowly and raised and eyebrow in query. The blonde had never, in the last few months once called him by his given name.

“I’m sorry. You know I don’t think any of that.” Damn, he was really swallowing his pride here, and to keep Potter’s sanity and confidence in **stable**. He was really starting to sound like he even CARED.

Well fuck.

His heart pounded away.

He fucking did.

FUCK.

Harry’s eyes were unusually bright and Draco couldn’t stop the swear under his breath as he took the few steps toward the emotionally unpredictable Gryffindor. He fell into the wall. Shit.

Harry rushed forward, eyes widened. “You can’t breathe again, can you?” he asked, his voice urgent. The blonde head shook, fine blonde hair falling into bright silver. “Malfoy” He whined, almost resigned as he said, “What am I going to do with you?” under his breath as he regrabbed the inhaler from where he’d put it back in Draco’s pocket and pressed it to the opened lips, however this time he grabbed up Draco’s hand and they pressed the button together.

Inhaling carefully, he listened as the raven breathed, “You might as well get used to using this yourself. I’m not always going to be around to do it for you, you know?” He laughed a bit, anxiously, somehow.

Draco inhaled again, coughed twice and then had another dose before sighing with his hand now clenched in Harry’s inner pink shirt; his coat was opened in the crowded heat.

Harry’s friends looked on in the background in something like mildly mortified and indecisively opening and closing their mouths like they weren’t sure if they should say something, or nothing at all.

They both ignored it.

“Come on” The raven said, slowing walking them to an unbroken compartment, “You need to lie down” and taking his seat before pulling Draco down to lie his head on his lap. Being the first time he had ever been in such an embarrassingly romantic position, let alone another MALE’S lap, let alone Potter’s, fuck, his cheeks went crimson immediately; his hands rose to cover it and stayed there as he heard other’s enter and close out the rest of the student body.

He had no idea why they had followed. He wished they’d go away.

“Um, Harry?”

“Yes.”

“Why is Malfoy in your lap?”

“Because he needs to lie down and he can’t really do that with all of the seats now occupied, now can he?” He said sarcastically toward the redhead male that sat across from them. The blonde blinked beneath his hands. He hadn’t known Potter to snark at his best friends before. Had something really happened between the trio?

The brunette was oddly quiet.

“…Suppose not. But, why, what’s going on? Where have you been? Why are you with Malfoy? And why isn’t he locked in Azkaban?”

Draco snorted, eyes closing as he felt a calloused hand begin carding through his soft locks. It felt rather good though he would never admit that aloud to anyone if they asked. How are you going to answer?

“We met over the summer. He moved in with me and because he doesn’t deserve to be in Azkaban, Ron.” He sounded like he was sneering and glaring and made a brief noise of annoyance because the fingers had stopped; they resumed after a pause and he settled again.

“’…But why? Are you friends?” This was Granger.

There was an odd sense in the confined space; Draco couldn’t quite tell what it was but it wasn’t exactly COMFORTABLE.

“Yes.” Silently, Draco nodded, and Harry tried not to groan or squirm when the blonde head shifted across his crotch, causing the fabric of both his trousers and his pants to rub against the waking apendage. The material was rather thin and his penis could feel every little jostle quite well. Beneath the head, it gave a little twitch to prove this and Harry bit his lip as Draco’s throat made a startled noise.

It echoed.

Harry’s peridot eyes shifted away from everyone as they stared questioningly at the odd duo. “Can you move down a bit?” He aimed this at Blaise, who sat on the same bench, right next to him, hip to hip, thigh to thigh.

The chocolately italian nodded before doing so. Harry welcomed the extra space but really it had been a front for asking Draco, who complied by the smallest inch so as not to alert suspicion.

“Harry, why did you disappear? You didn’t contact us, then you just reappear suddenly with Malfoy in tow? What is all this about?” It was Granger again, being a nosy cow.

Potter shrugged. He stared up at him now, it was an odd angle but it wasn’t an unpleasant view of the gorgeously tanned male.

“Harry. We’re your friends, remember? You just blocked us out…”

“…And let Malfoy in…” The mutter wasn’t much of a mutter and Draco shifted his head stare sideways at the redhead.

“Look. I’m sorry that you felt like I was blocking you out but I needed the space, desperately and it wasn’t like I planned to encounter Malfoy whilst I was hiding…In my house…But he was near where I live and becaue he didn’t want to live where…he was, we decided to put out differences aside and he moved in.

I did this knowing he wasn’t a criminal anymore than the rest of us. Despite the Ministry’s view on this, he didn’t do anything the rest of us wouldn’t have done in distress, in desperation, in FEAR.” His voice rose mildly on the last word before a press of his head back had the younger male taking a shuddering breath.

“My house is relatively big so you could say we were able to avoid each other if we so chose, for days on end if need be, which you know, was what we did msot of the time…So…”

There were several voice regonitions but no words. They knew Potter wasn’t telling them the entire truth. Sometimes, Draco often wandered if Potter’s friends weren’t abit…Possessive.

Perhaps Potter thought so too?


End file.
